


Talk

by JoMcIntosh



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, F/M, Hate to Love, More Tags to be added as I go, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Slow Burn, burgerpants is felix, nice cream guy is archie, papyrus is kind of an asshole, reader is female, reader is super pushy, underswap - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-05-04 11:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMcIntosh/pseuds/JoMcIntosh
Summary: Monsters. They'd surfaced about a year ago, and you were determined to make a difference in how they were treated. You just didn't expect the first monster you met to be a total asshole. Still, you weren't going to let one lanky skeleton deter you from your goal. You were going to befriend him, you were d e t e r m i n e d.





	1. New Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [modambrosia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/modambrosia/gifts).



> Hello! This is... kind of my first reader fic so go easy on me, please? This is dedicated to the lovely modambrosia for being so supportive of my writing! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this or talk to me at https://abundantheadcanons.tumblr.com/ or https://jomcintosh.tumblr.com/ (the first is my imagines blog the second is my main!)

A tense silence spilled into the air when the door to the bar was opened, revealing a tall skeletal monster. He, at least the normal--human--patrons of the bar assumed it was a he; those that cared, wore a large orange hoodie that sagged on his body, giving an illusion of flesh, and a pair of faded cargo shorts. A cigarette hung from his teeth, and his sneakers squeaked against the hardwood floors. Despite the noise that indicated wet shoes, he didn't appear to have been touched by the rain that was pouring outside.

The skeleton sat at the bar, his expression tired and his shoulders slumped in defeat. The silence continued, even after he spoke up and ordered a glass of Whiskey with a shot of honey mixed in--a weird request to most, and the bartender doubted it would taste any good, but they served it up anyway. Eager to move on to the other _human_ customers, they took the offered money and moved away.

Papyrus rubbed his phalanges over his eyes, attempting to wipe away the exhaustion he felt weighing on his bones. He'd had a long year, trying to adjust to surface life and at the same time keep a close watch on the kid to make sure they kept their promise and stopped the resets. He wasn't used to extending so much energy, and he'd barely slept in the last week alone.

He hadn't realized he was dozing off until a pressure on his shoulder nearly tipped him out of the bar stool he was perched on.

You gave a sheepish smile, watching the tired skeleton as he regained his balance and looked at you with confusion.

"Sorry, wanted to make sure you were still alive," you explain, shifting in discomfort when the monster didn't answer.

"So," you continued, your nerves kick-starting your rambling, "this is the first time I've seen a monster outside the news, which is weird considering how many of you there are. I was kind of curious about you, ya know? And I was hoping maybe we could be friends? Because I know humans aren't the most accepting of races, and I wanted to try helping out anyone who needed it, ya know?"

Papyrus stared as you rambled, his expression remaining blank as his exhausted mind attempted to catch up. It wasn't until your topic moved on to your _dog_ that he stopped you.

"Look, kid--"

"I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-two," you interrupted, earning a droll look.

"Whatever, I get that you're trying to be nice, but all I want right now is to enjoy my drink in peace without having to worry about social cues and making polite conversation, so can you just leave me alone?"

You pouted, swinging your legs beneath you. After a few minutes of relative silence, Papyrus breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to his glass.

He had thought his being straight with you had worked, until he heard you start talking again, eliciting a loud groan.

"Seriously, will you just _shut up_ ," he snapped, glaring at you.

He expected you to flinch away from his obvious anger, but instead you glared back defiantly, puffing up your chest. Oh great, you were _determined_ now.

"I'm _trying_ to be nice here. From what I've seen, you guys haven't exactly been _welcomed_ to the surface, and I want to be one of the people to change that, so if you want _so badly_ for me to leave you alone right now, then why don't you give me your contact info so I can get ahold of you when you're _not_ in the mood to be a prick."

Papyrus stared at you, then sighed in exasperation, rubbing his hand along his skull.

"Alright, fine, if it'll get you to leave me the hell alone," he grumbled, holding his hand out for your phone.

You beamed, handing your phone to him triumphantly. You waited expectantly while he stared at it blankly, only for your gloating smile to drop when he crushed the device in his hand.

"What the hell!?" you snapped, grabbing the wrecked cell from his hand.

"Maybe now you'll actually listen to me when I tell you to buzz off," the skeleton said, shrugging his shoulders before taking a drink.

You glared at him, crossing your arms. You _so_ weren't finished with this asshole. He was going to be your friend, damn it, and you didn't care _what_ you had to do to make that happen.

 

 

 

You stared at yourself in the mirror, squinting in the bright light as you tried to remember what had happened after you made your decision to befriend the prick in the bar. You remembered very clearly ordering some random alcohol and trying to keep up with him glass for glass, but past your third drink--your usual limit when you decided to go out--you couldn’t remember anything clearly. There was a few fuzzy pieces willfully pulling themselves out for you, but all _they_ confirmed was that you had acted like an idiot trying to get the monster to talk to you.

Another moment of staring at your baggy eyes and frizzy hair, and you let out a quiet groan as a memory you desperately hoped to be fabricated popped into your head. Praying to whatever god may have been listening that you weren’t that fucking stupid, you left the bathroom in search of the jeans you’d thrown somewhere on the floor last night.

A rectangular shape in the pocket you usually kept your phone in confirmed your suspicions, though for a moment you pretended that it was just your phone despite the impossibility of _that_. After that unsatisfying game of pretend, you told yourself you were being stupid and pulled the phone out of the pocket.

You were greeted with a white case decorate with the words ‘404 error. Case not found.’ Letting out a snort, you flipped the phone and pressed the power button, lighting up the screen that showed you a picture of a cute skeleton with stars for eyes and an even cuter kid with bright red eyes and a wide smile. You wondered who they were while you swiped across the screen to see if it required a passcode or something only to be shocked with the information that no, it did not need a passcode.

“Jesus, who doesn’t put a password on their phone?” you muttered, brows furrowing in thought while your eyes narrowed against the bright screen. A second later, you were shaking the thought aside and continued on your mission to find the skeleton’s favorited contacts. It didn’t take long to find, though you were unfamiliar with the type of phone, and pretty soon your thumb was hovering over a contact saved as ‘broberry’ with another picture of the skeleton on his background.

Should you call? You could definitely get into a lot of trouble once the skeleton from last night figured out you had somehow pick pocketed his phone, but at the same time this was an opportunity to make good on what you had told the monster _and_ to what you had promised to yourself. You pursed your lips as you thought, a moment later chewing on your bottom one.

Eventually you just sighed and tossed the phone onto your bed. Your head was killing you and your stomach complaining loudly at the lack of food. You would think on it more after you had some coffee and cereal. And like, three painkillers while you were at it.

Thank God it was your day off, you don’t know what you would’ve done to any angry customers that decided it was _your_ fault the store didn’t carry a specific brand of lottery ticket, or that they were out of stock on their favorite candy. Especially with your hangover and irritation at the tall, lanky asshole from the bar last night. Had you even gotten his name? You don’t think so, with how stubborn he was to _not_ talk to you last night.

You looked at your watch, noting that it was nearly noon. Well… you could always go to the coffee shop down the street to get a triple mocha frap. You could really use the chocolate, if you were being completely honest.

Nodding to yourself, you grabbed a pair of sunglasses, the skeletons phone, your keys and your wallet before heading out the door. You planned on getting a new phone today too, since work would be difficult without it. Might as well get that done after you got your coffee.


	2. New Phone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again. This chapter was beta read by the lovely modambrosia! I enjoyed writing this a lot, especially since I was talking to Mod through a majority of the writing process.

You flinched when the bell rang upon you opening the door, the sound seeming to be  _ right  _ in your ear. Needless to say, it did not help your headache at all. Sighing, you rubbed at your temples and walked up to the counter, grateful for the lack of a line as you approached the bunny monster behind the counter.

“Welcome to Napsta-Coffee, what can I get for you?”

You looked at the sweets on display, seeing a lemon bar perched on a display case. Your stomach growled, and you promptly decided that it was  _ yours _ .

“A triple mocha frappuccino and a lemon bar, please.”

“Alright, a triple mocha frappuccino and a lemon bar. What size would you like?”

You stared blankly at the sizes for a moment before shrugging. “The medium one,” you said, not being able to, for the life of you, remember the fancy names for each size.

The barista snorted, grabbing the cup you wanted before asking your name.

“Uh…” You stared blankly again, this time at the barista--his name tag said Archie.

He snorted again, this time his laughter carrying and you gave a sheepish smile.

“Just uh… put me down as forgetful? I don’t seem to have my head on straight.”

“Not a problem,” Archie said, smirking in amusement as he wrote down what you asked.

You paid for your drink and the lemon bar then moved to sit down in the booth closest to the counter so you could attempt to talk to the barista despite your headache.

“So… Archie? I can call you that right?”

Archie let out a laugh, shaking his head. “I mean, it is my name, so go ahead.”

“Okay so, Archie, you’re the second monster I’ve met but you’re really nice where the skeleton was kind of an asshole. Which should I expect more from other monsters?” you asked, gradually unwrapping your lemon bar while you talked. 

Archie paused in making your drink, lifting an eyebrow in your direction. You waited patiently, taking a bite out of your lemon bar and resisting the urge to groan at the taste.

“Skeleton? Let me guess, tall, lanky, orange hoodie?” Archie described the skeleton pretty well, so you nodded.

“Pfft, that’s Papyrus. Not sure what he did to make you think he’s an asshole, but he’s usually pretty nice to me when he comes in.”

You pursed your lips and narrowed your eyes at the wall ahead of you. After a moment, you decided to tell him what happened. After all, you  _ did  _ say Archie seemed really nice.

“Okay so, here’s what happened. I’m at a bar, looking to get a drink or two because I had a long day at work, and then a skeleton walks in completely dry despite the rain,” you start, grabbing your drink when he hands it to you, “and he gets to the bar, orders and then practically falls asleep right there.”

Archie snickered, shaking his head in amusement. “Yeah, that sounds like him. Okay, so he fell asleep and you what?”

You took a sip of your frappuccino, sighing at the rush of chocolate before answering.

“I, naturally, decide to go make sure he’s still alive and nearly knock him out of his seat. He said nothing for a good like… twenty minutes so I kind of rambled? Talked about literally everything that came to mind. Like how I wanted to be friends with monsters because humans are kinda jerks when it comes to all things different, and the news, the weather, even my mom’s  _ dog _ .”

“Seriously? Not even your own dog, you just talked about your mom’s?” Archie asked, amused disbelief in his tone.

You shrugged, taking another bite out of your lemon bar. “I don’t have my own dog, and my mom’s dog had just gone to the vet because he wasn’t eating and it terrified her. Anyway, that’s where he stopped me, saying something about social cues and not wanting to deal with them. I tried to stop talking after that but it was so quiet in the bar so I tried talking again just at anyone who would listen and he told me to shut up.”

“Sounds like he was in a bad mood,” Archie commented, grabbing a rag and starting to wipe down the counter to make it look like he was still working while you two talked.

You nodded, taking another drink of your coffee. “Yeah, but I kinda decided to be friends with him after that? Like, if he was similar to how all monsters are, and I could befriend  _ him _ , then I’d be well on my way to helping monsters better integrate with society. So, I told him that if he wanted me to leave him alone, he had to give me his phone number--”

“Sounds kind of redundant.” Archie interrupted, raising his brow at you again.

You shrugged, smiling at the bunny monster. “Maybe, but I thought it worked at the time. He agreed initially and had my phone in his hand and then… he crushed it. The screen shattered, and the frame bent out of shape. The thing is totally useless now.”

Archie balked, pausing in his counter wiping to stare at you with wide eyes.

“You’re telling me that Papyrus, the laziest skeleton in monster society, has the strength to crush a  _ phone _ ?” he asked in total disbelief.

You blinked and nodded, frowning in confusion. “You mean not all monsters are ridiculously strong?” you asked, tilting your head to the side.

Archie shook his head, swiping his hand? Paw? Over his ears.

“No, actually. Holy shit, I did not expect that from Papyrus. Sans, sure, but Papyrus?”

You finished off your lemon square as you watched Archie go through the crisis of his discovery, waiting so you could finish your tale. Once he was looking at you again, you opened your mouth to continue.

“Well, after that I kinda got drunk trying to keep up with him, and then at some point I had stolen his phone,” you finished sheepishly, pulling said phone out of your pocket to show Archie.

Archie started laughing, and your sheepish smile turned into a grin.

“Stars, you’re something else, miss forgetful,” Archie said once he’d calmed down, snickering when you only shrugged in response.

“I’m Jo, by the way,” you said, finally thinking to introduce yourself to your (hopefully) new friend.

Archie fished a pen from his apron and grabbed your receipt, which was still attached to the cash register. He scribbled down some numbers, then handed you the slip of paper. Curious, you looked down to see his name and phone number written down. You looked up in surprise to find Archie flashing you a wide smile.

“Text me sometime when you get a new phone, I could really use a friend outside of work.”

You beamed at the bunny, folding the receipt and slipping it into your pocket. “I will! It’s a good thing I’m getting a new phone after this. I’ll text you when I get it set up!”

After that, you said goodbye to Archie, grabbed your coffee and walked out of the shop, humming happily to yourself as you walked. Now you just needed to head to the cricket store and get a new phone and you’d be all set for the day.

Replacing your phone didn’t take long. Granted, you opted for the newer edition of the phone you’d had previously, which lead to your needing the help of an attendant to set up all of your accounts and apps as well as show you how to even  _ work  _ the darned thing, and by the time you’d finished and made it back to the car you were thoroughly drained. However, upon checking the time on your (brand spanking new!) phone and seeing that the whole ordeal only ate up about half an hour, a bit of your energy was renewed.

So, you headed back to your apartment so you could finally decide what you wanted to do with the skeleton’s, you supposed his name was Papyrus, phone.

You plopped onto your couch, Papyrus’ phone already in hand, and typed in your number. You were going to get his number, damn it.

After calling your new phone and saving his number as ‘Asshole Skeleton’, you found your way back to the broberry contact and finally hit call.

It had barely rung once before someone picked up and you were met with a boisterous voice.

“PAPY! YOU FOUND YOUR PHONE?”


	3. New Skeleton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was once again beta read by modambrosia!! You can find me at https://abundantheadcanons.tumblr.com/ or https://jomcintosh.tumblr.com/

“PAPY! YOU FOUND YOUR PHONE?”

You freeze, your mouth hanging open as you attempt to get words out, but your chest constricts as your mind struggles to come up with words. Fuck, what were you gonna say? You could have sworn you had a plan when you went into this,  _ where were the words.  _

“PAPY? ARE YOU THERE?” the voice asks, snapping you out of your panicked thoughts momentarily, though you still couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Uh…”

Silence on the other end for a moment before the other person, Broberry?, sighed.

“You’re not Papy,” they said and you nodded frantically, despite the stranger not being able to see you.

“Uh, no, I’m not. I’m actually trying to get ahold of him?” you ask, sounding unsure as your hand moves up to fiddle with the collar of your shirt.

More silence makes your already frayed nerves spike, and you start to ramble in an attempt to explain yourself and fill the quiet. You relayed the story of the night before, including Papyrus (Papy?) crushing your phone in his hand and your decision to become friends with him in spite of it.

When you finish the line is silent for a few more seconds before “Broberry” speaks up again.

“GOSH! I’M SO SORRY MY BROTHER DID THAT! WHY DON’T WE MEET AT GRILLBY’S TEA PARLOR ON THIRD AND I CAN GET HIS PHONE BACK? AND I CAN GET YOU SOMETHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR HIS RUDE BEHAVIOR!”

You consider the stranger’s offer, biting your lip in hesitation. Third street was a bit of walk, but it’s not like you haven’t walked there before… and you did want to get Papyrus his phone back so you could work on being friends with him…

“Alright, that sounds like a plan! I’ll be there in about an hour?”

“SOUNDS GOOD TO ME! SEE YOU SOON, STRANGER!”  
  


 

An hour later you’re walking into the monster parlor, looking around for the person who had been on the other end of the phone. You looked down and shot Broberry a quick text with Papyrus’ phone saying you were here.

“OH! EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE STRANGER WITH MY BROTHER’S PHONE?” 

You jumped at the sudden loud voice coming from next to you. God, was everything trying to irritate your headache today? 

Looking at the source of the voice, you spotted a short, squat skeleton sitting in one of the booths situated directly next to the door. You smiled, moving to sit in the booth across from him with a nod of your head.

“Yeah, that’s me. You must be uh… Broberry then?” you asked, glancing at his contact name before handing him the phone.

The skeleton groaned, his shoulders slumping in disdain at the nick… name?

“NO! THAT’S A STUPID NICKNAME MY BROTHER GAVE ME! IT’S A PUN OFF OF BLUEBERRY, WHICH YOU CAN CALL ME IF YOU DON’T WANT TO CALL ME SANS, WHICH IS MY ACTUAL NAME!”

You nodded again, smiling in spite of the pounding in your head from Sans’ voice.

“Can I call you Blue?” you ask, leaning your elbows against the table and placing your chin in your hand.

Sans shrugged at that, placing his hands around his tea cup. “YOU CAN CALL ME WHATEVER YOU LIKE, HUMAN! JUST AS LONG AS IT ISN’T BROBERRY.”

You nod at that, then introduce yourself so you’re not being called Human the entire interaction.

“WELL, IT’S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, Jo! THANK YOU FOR BRINGING MY BROTHER’S PHONE BACK TO ME, AND I REALLY AM TERRIBLY SORRY THAT HE BROKE YOURS!”

Before you can respond, a monster made entirely of green fire and dressed in a maid’s uniform comes up to your table with a pad of paper and pen in hand.

“Hello! I’m Fuku and I’ll be your waitress for today, is there anything I can get you?” the girl said.

You blink, then look at Sans in contemplation. “What do you have?”

“OH! I HAVE GOLDEN FLOWER TEA! IT’S A MONSTER SPECIALTY, VERY GOOD AT CALMING NERVES AND RELAXING MUSCLES.”

You stare at him for a moment, wondering how he knew the second fact if he doesn’t have muscles, then shrug.

“I’ll have that then, sounds good.”

Fuku nods, writing down the order before looking back at the two of you again.

“Anything else?” she asks, and before you can deny her, Sans speaks up.

“AN ORDER OF LEMON BLUEBERRY SCONES, PLEASE?”

Oh, those sound so yummy.

Fuku nods, writes the addition down, and then leaves for, you’re guessing, the kitchen.

Once the waitress leaves, you turn back to Blue so you can respond to what he’d said before Fuku arrived.

“It’s okay, Blue, I was able to get a new phone pretty quickly since payday was recently. I’m just really sorry that I stole Papyrus’ phone, being drunk really isn’t an excuse for theft,” you said sincerely, smiling at Sans sheepishly.

Blue seems taken aback by your apology, but that doesn’t deter him from speaking for long.

“NONSENSE! YOU SAID YOU JUST WANTED TO BE FRIENDS WITH MY BROTHER, YES? THEN YOU LIKELY DID IT WITH THAT INTENTION IN MIND, SO IT’S NOT NEARLY AS BAD AS YOU STEALING HIS PHONE TO SELL IT!”

Your smile turned into one of gratitude, already feeling a surge of affection for the monster in front of you. What a forgiving sweetheart, how could anyone not welcome someone like  _ him  _ into the world?

“Okay, if you say so,” you say, glancing around the tea parlor in curiosity. You’d never been here before.

“I DO SAY SO! SAY HUMAN--” So much for not being called human again. “--WHAT IS IT THAT YOU DO TO WORK?” Blue asked, taking a sip of his tea.

You sighed at the question, tapping your fingers against the table.

“I work at the local grocery store,” you answer, making a sour face at the mention of your job. You really hated your job, but it paid the bills.

“OH. YOU DON’T SEEM TO LIKE YOUR JOB?” 

You nodded, shrugging. “It’s thankless work, and humans can be jerks when they don’t get what they want, but it pays the bills, so I guess I can’t really complain,” you answered, leaning back against the booth when Fuku came back with your tea.

You smiled at the fire girl, taking a cautious sip. Immediately you felt your still pounding headache begin to fade, and you relaxed with a sigh.

“Thank you,” you said, grinning at the girl.

Fuku smiled and nodded. “Of course! Your scones will be out in a few more minutes,” she said, then walked away again.

Once she was gone, you looked back at Blueberry. “What do you do, Sans?” you asked, curiosity gripping you since he had asked the same question.

“I WORK AT THE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AS A NURSE!”

A grin spread on your face at that, being able to perfectly imagine Blue in nurses scrubs, taking care of small children that are too scared to get their shots.

“Sounds like you actually enjoy it there, what’s it like?” you ask, blowing on your tea so you can take another sip.

Sans eagerly started talking about his work, talking about his favorite kids and how much it hurt to see them in pain when they visited. He was very popular among the regulars, he was apparently even a hero to some of them, which you had no issues imagining with how good natured the skeleton was.

“Here’s your lemon blueberry scones!” Fuku said, interrupting a story about how Blue had once gotten in a tickle fight with three of the permanent stay kids.

“THANK YOU!” Blue said, smiling graciously at the fire monster as she set the plate down on the table.

You grabbed one only to drop it quickly when your fingers were stung by the heat. Hissing, you snatched your hand back and stuck the offended fingers in your mouth in an attempt to cool them off.

Sans chortled, grabbing a scone with no problem. You removed your fingers from your mouth so you could stick your tongue out at him, though the action was done for the sake of humor more than anything else.

“ARE YOU OKAY, HUMAN?” he asked, amusement still in his tone, and you nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting them to be so hot still.”

“GRILLBY BAKES ALL HIS SCONES TO ORDER! SO THEY LIKELY JUST GOT OUT OF THE OVEN. YOU REALLY SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL, HUMAN!”

You nodded, resisting the urge to laugh at his scolding. Here you were, an adult being scolded by a skeleton monster. What a sight you two must be.

“So, Sans. I was wondering about Papyrus… is there a reason he’s so…” you paused, trying to come up with the right word to use that wouldn’t offend Blue, “...grumpy?”

Sans sighed, nibbling on the scone for a moment before speaking. “HE’S BEEN HAVING ISSUES BEING ON THE SURFACE THE LAST YEAR. HE’S BEEN WORKING HARD, WHICH HE’S NOT EXACTLY USED TO? SO I SUPPOSE HE’S JUST STRESSED AND HE TOOK IT OUT ON YOU.”

You looked at your tea, taking a bigger sip than the last time so you could feel the rush of relief from your headache and the tension in your shoulders. So Papyrus was just stressed huh? Maybe the next time you talked to him, he wouldn’t be so grumpy? You could only hope.

“What’s he like when he’s not stressed?”

Blue grinned at your question, popping the entire scone into his mouth and making you laugh when he made a face at the heat and how difficult it was to chew through so much.

Once he swallowed the scone, he started talking animatedly about his brother with literal stars in his eyes. You listened raptly, enjoying the excitement in the others voice. He moved from his brother to the monster ambassador who often stayed with them and their interactions with his brother and himself.

“AND THEN, THEN CHARA DROPPED THE BOWL OF WHIPPED CREAM AND IT LANDED RIGHT ON PAPY’S HEAD WHILE HE WAS SPRAWLED ON THE FLOOR COVERED IN FLOUR!”

You burst into a flurry of giggles, putting your scone down--they’d cooled off enough for you to eat in the middle of his second story--so you could cover your face. The two of you laughed for a good couple minutes, unable to breathe long enough between fits to speak.

“Oh-Oh my God, that sounds hilarious. I thought they were making strawberry shortcake? Where does the flour even  _ fit _ ?” You asked, bursting into giggles again when Blue gave an exaggerated shrug.

“I DON’T KNOW! BUT IT WAS THERE AND I HAD TO CLEAN IT UP. THANKFULLY PAPY AND CHARA ACTUALLY HELPED IN THAT PARTICULAR INSTANCE SINCE THEY HAD MADE THE MESS AND I’D JUST GOTTEN OFF WORK.”

You looked at the time on your phone and sighed when you saw that you’d been talking for a few hours. It was getting late into the day and you had some cleaning to do before you went to bed.

“Alright, Blue, I gotta get home now, but I had fun talking to you! We should do this again sometime,” you said, smiling at the skeleton as he seemed to pout at your friend date being cut short.

“ALRIGHT. LET ME GIVE YOU MY NUMBER THEN, AND WE CAN SET UP ANOTHER TIME TO TALK. OH! YOU COULD COME OVER FOR DINNER SOME TIME AND GET TO KNOW PAPY WHEN HE’S COMFORTABLE!”

You beamed at the suggestion, pulling out your phone and navigating to make a new contact before handing the device to Blue.

“I’d love that, Blue. Sounds like a lot of fun.”

Blue fiddled with your phone as he put in his contact info, taking a selfie to put as his contact picture, and then handed it back to you with a grin.

“IT DOES! THANK YOU FOR TALKING TO ME, HUMAN. I ENJOYED MYSELF A LOT.”

You nodded, pocketed your phone, and then gave the skeleton a hug.

“Bye Blue, I’ll text you later.”

“BYE! I LOOK FORWARD TO IT.”

After Sans let go of the hug, you headed out of the shop and made your way home. Two new friends and a potential friends number, all in one day. You smiled as you walked, humming to yourself.

Today was good.


	4. An Invite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this took so long, this chapter gave me many struggles. As always, this was beta read by modambrosia and my tumblrs are https://abundantheadcanons.tumblr.com/ and https://jomcintosh.tumblr.com/

God you hated working at this stupid store. You’ve just gotten into work not even two hours ago and already you’d been yelled at because a woman couldn’t double up her coupons on a five dollar item. You hadn’t even been on the till.

You were currently cleaning up a giant mess of yogurt that someone had decided dump on the floor. You’d have to go around the store since whoever it had been decided to walk  _ through  _ the mess and track it everywhere. You were nearly finished cleaning up the main mess when someone on the radio decided to call you for a totally different mess in a different aisle.

Resisting the urge to groan, you finished what you could of the tracks before heading in the direction of the other mess. You stopped when you saw a familiar orange hoodie standing in a pile of honey bottles that had been knocked from their display. You grinned just as he noticed you and let out a groan.

“Oh, great,” you both said, you with excitement and him with disdain.

“Hey! It’s been a few days,” you started, stepping forward and extending your arm, “we didn’t get off on the right foot when we first met.”

Papyrus just stared at you with an unimpressed expression, so you continued after dropping your arm.

“Why don’t we start over? Sans said you’d just… been….” you trailed off, watching as Papyrus ignored you in favor of picking up his mess.

Okay, so he wasn’t going to make this easy, but you were still determined. Shrugging, you bent down and started to pick up some of the honey bottles surrounding his feet. You intended to introduce yourself while you helped him, but before you could speak you noticed he’d been glaring at you.

“What?” you ask, brows furrowing in confusion at the look.

“I can do this myself, human,” he snapped, the word ‘human’ sounding like an insult.

You frowned, then looked at your torso where your work vest was on full display. Papyrus’ eyes followed your look, and he cursed.

“I work here, I’m supposed to clean this up,” you finally say, looking back up at him only to find that he had stood up and walked away.

You watched him leave for a moment before sighing. Oh well, you’d get him eventually. For now, you had a mess to clean up.  
  
  


The day felt like it was never going to end by the time you got off around five, and dear God almighty, were you tired. 

Pulling out your phone, you flipped through your messages and ignored most. You were about to put your phone away when a thought came to you, making you grin. You were  _ totally  _ gonna text Papyrus.

 

**[You]:** hello mr grump!

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** who is this?

**[You]:** take a wild guess.

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** delete my number.

 

You snorted, looking up from your phone for a moment so you could get into your apartment. Living close to work really was a blessing sometimes. As you settled down, you started to boil some water in hopes of making that golden flower tea you’d bought from Grillby’s yesterday to ease some of the stress of the day.

 

**[You]:** nah i don’t think so.

**[You]:** im trying to be your friend remember?

 

You set your phone down after that, not really expecting him to answer back. You turned the heat off on the stove when the tea kettle started to scream with steam, taking a mug out of a cupboard so you could pour the water in with a tea bag. Your phone dinged as you were working, but you ignored it in favor of finishing what you were doing.

After you’d made sure the tea was brewing right, you grabbed your phone again to see both Blue and Papyrus had texted you.

 

**[Blue]:** HELLO HUMAN! WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO DINNER TOMORROW?

 

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** don’t you dare accept that invitation.

 

You raised an eyebrow at that, wondering how Papyrus knew that Blue had invited you to dinner, but shrugged and answered him first.

 

**[You]:** what do i get out of it?

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** what?

**[You]:** what do i get out of denying blue a chance to spend time with me?

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** you have got to be kidding me.

 

You contemplated your next response while you finished making your tea, taking a cautious sip and feeling your shoulders relax as you moved to your kitchen table so you could respond.

 

**[You]:** nope! not kidding.

**[You]:** you’ve gotta offer me something in return for turning down my friend

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** fine. what do you want?

 

You paused, tapping a finger against your mug as you considered that. What did you want? You could ask him to be nicer to you, maybe? But that would be forced and you didn’t really want that, you wanted to have an actual, genuine friendship with the skeleton monster. Hmm, what a good question.

 

**[You]:** how about this. one friend date with me, and ill decline the invite.

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** fuck no, pick something else.

 

With a shake of your head, you took another sip of tea. He’s really determined not to spend time with you, isn’t he? Oh well, not like he had choice in this situation. Setting your mug down, you started typing out another response.

 

**[You]:** nope sorry thats the only offer you get. take it or leave it.

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** you’re insufferable.

**[You]:** oooo big word.

**[Asshole Skeleton]:** fuck off.

**[You]:** so? what do you say?

 

Several minutes passed, and you fiddled with your phone and drank tea to relax while you waited. When it became clear that Papyrus wasn’t going to respond, you shrugged and shot a text towards Sans.

 

**[You]:** id love to come to dinner tomorrow!!

**[Blue]:** PERFECT! ARE THERE ANY ALLERGIES OR FOOD PREFERENCES I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT?

**[You]:** nope! ill eat just about anything.

**[You]:** i look forward to dinner tomorrow, blue!

**[Blue]:** I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU! MAYBE PAPY WON’T BE AS RUDE AS HE WAS WHEN YOU FIRST MET!

 

You seriously doubted that, but sent an affirmative anyway.

There, now you had a dinner date at the skeleton brothers’ house tomorrow and a nice tea and some TV to enjoy tonight. You smiled to yourself, grabbed your tea and moved to your couch.

You were pretty excited for tomorrow.


	5. New Look

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again beta read by modambrosia and my tumblrs are abundantheadcanons and jomcintosh!!! I hope you all enjoy!!!

You were currently sitting upside down on your couch, your legs thrown over the back as you ate popcorn and watched Brooklyn nine-nine on your TV. You were also texting Archie during commercial breaks about anything that came to mind--usually about what was happening in the show or bullshit the two of you had to deal with at work.

 

**[Archie]:** So today I had to deal with another secret menu order.

**[Archie]:** Which is ridiculous, we’ve only been open for like three months.

**[Archie]:** How is there already a bullshit secret menu?

 

You snorted at that, your eyes flicking to the TV just as the show moved to commercials. Disappointed you missed some of the jokes, you started to reply back to your friend.

 

**[You]:** thats not nearly as bad as having to spend two hours calling a woman and her kids over the intercom to try and get them together again.

**[You]:** the kids were both under the age of ten how the hell do you just let them loose in a store in good conscience?

**[Archie]:** Oh dude that sounds like hell.

**[Archie]:** Hey I’m off work now, mind if I come over?

 

You tapped your phone against your chin in thought, a grin spreading across your face as you considered accepting Archie’s offer. You hadn’t had a friend over in ages, and who knew, maybe he could give you ideas for a game plan on how to become friends with Papyrus.

 

**[You]:** heck yeah! cmon over ill text you my address.

**[Archie]:** Sweet.

 

After texting Archie your address, you grab the TV remote and pause in the middle of some yogurt commercial so you can pick up your apartment a little bit.

Twenty minutes pass before you hear a knock on your door. You got up from the couch, tossing your phone on the cushion and went to open the door. Archie stood there holding a drink carrier with two coffees.

“Oh sweet!” you exclaim, grabbing the carrier and stepping aside to let Archie in.

You grab the drink with your name on it and take a sip to find that it was a triple mocha frap, the rush of chocolate a welcome one.

“Figured you could use some coffee after having to deal with the hell family today,” Archie said, grabbing his own coffee and taking a drink.

You nodded, mouth preoccupied with taking a long drink as you went to toss the drink carrier in the trash. After that, you entered your kitchen to pull out a container of cookies you’d baked a couple days ago in a fit of boredom.

“Here, take as many as you want for the coffee,” you said, offering Archie the container.

Archie’s face lit up, and he grabbed the container with his paws, eagerly taking off the lid to grab a cookie.

“Thanks! I haven’t home baked cookies in ages. It’s hell to bake for thirty kids, so my mom and sisters usually just get store bought cookies,” he explained, finishing off one cookie and starting in on another.

You moved back to the living room so you could reclaim your spot on the couch and move your phone for Archie to sit down.

“What’s your family like?” you ask, snatching a cookie from the container.

Archie swallowed his second cookie and grabbed another before answering.

“Big. I have thirty nieces and nephews, two sisters, and a mom that’s too stubborn to realize she really needs to retire.”

You balk at the number, not sure if he was being totally serious. He  _ is  _ a bunny monster, so you assume his family is too, but  _ thirty kids _ ?

“Please tell me that’s not the actual number,” you say, hovering your cookie just in front of your mouth as you wait for Archie’s answer.

He shakes his head, taking a bit of cookie. “Nah, it’s closer to fifteen, but it’s still a ridiculous amount kids that I gotta help take care of because my sisters both work full time.”

You stared with wide eyes, your mouth hanging open.

“That… is way too many kids. I’m not keeping you from taking care of them, am I?”

“No, my mom has today off and one of my sisters got off early so they’ve got taking care of the kids covered. That’s honestly why I asked to come over, I really needed a break from family and work.”

You nodded at that, finally taking a bit of your cookie. Jeez, you weren’t sure you even  _ wanted  _ kids, much less take care of fifteen at a time. And yet, here was Archie, managing to do that with the help of his family.

“I don’t think I’d be able to survive in your shoes,” you muttered around your cookie, swallowing so you could take another drink of your coffee.

Archie laughed at that, grabbing his own drink. “Yeah, there’s not many monsters, much less humans, who can deal with what a bunny monster can when it comes to family, so I don’t blame you for thinking that.”

There was silence between the two of you for a few moments while you nursed your coffee and Archie devoured your cookies.

“So hey, how’s the Papyrus situation going?” Archie asked suddenly, making you grin.

“I have dinner at his place tonight,” you said, finishing off your coffee and setting it on the coffee table.

Archie stared for a second before he matched your grin.

“Oh that’s perfect. Want some advice on how to get on his good side?”

You gasped dramatically and leaned forward. “Yes! Yes, I definitely want that, please give it to me.”

Archie laughed, setting the half empty cookie container to the side so he could lean closer to you too.

“First, he loves puns,” he started and you nodded, paying rapt attention.

It went on like that for the next hour and a half, Archie giving you pointers on how to deal with Papyrus while you nodded eagerly to each bit of advice he gave you. When you realized how much time had passed by the time he was done, you cursed.

“Shit, I gotta get ready, Archie. I’m supposed to be at Blue’s in a couple hours and I wanna look nice…” you said, giving your friend an apologetic smile.

Archie shrugged a shoulder, standing up so he could take the two empty coffee cups to the trash. 

“Want me to do your makeup? Napstabot taught me how to do faces ages ago and now I’m his go to when he needs someone to make him look good.”

You blinked at the offer, then grinned. “I would love that, actually.”

“Okay, cool, why don’t you go get dressed and I’ll be ready for you when you’re done?”

You nodded at that, standing up to go do as he said. You were going to look amazing for tonight, and it was going to be great.


	6. The Dinner

You were looking good in a dark red sweater dress, black leggings, and brown ankle boots. Now you just wished you were  _ feeling  _ good as you stepped up to Blue’s house and knocked on the door. You weren’t sure why, but you were suddenly incredibly nervous about the upcoming dinner.

 

When Blue opened the door, you lit up in a grin, hoping to hide the nerves you were feeling.

 

“HELLO (Y/N)!! YOU LOOK FANTASTIC! COME ON IN.” 

 

You beamed at Blue, doing as he asked. When you crossed the threshold of the door, you began looking around, noticing Papyrus laying on the couch completely ignoring your presence as he messed around on his phone. You frowned, but continued your examination of the living room.

 

It was a cozy home, to say the least, with the couch pressed up against the wall with a large window behind it and a TV on the opposite side. There were stairs leading up to the second floor where you could see two doors, one covered in signs and the other blank.

 

“PAPY! WE HAVE A GUEST, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS GREET HER!” Sans scolded, gloved hands on his hips.

 

“Hi human,” Papyrus said, clearly disdained that he had to acknowledge your existence at all.

 

You looked back at Papyrus and smiled anyway, grateful he at least said hi.

 

“My name is (y/n), just so you know. I’m pretty sure I never actually introduced myself to you.”

 

Papyrus shrugged, keeping his attention on his phone. You sighed, then turned to a scowling Blue, hoping to move on from the tense conversation.

 

“Whatever you’re making smells really good, Blue. I can’t wait to eat,” you said, breaking Sans out of his reverie. He beamed at you, making your smile much more genuine.

 

“WHY DON’T YOU SIT DOWN? I’LL BE DONE WITH DINNER IN A FEW MINUTES!”

 

You nodded, looking around again until you spotted the chair next to the couch, angled to face the center of the room. Moving to sit down, you heard Blue enter the kitchen and leave you alone with Papyrus. Well… time to try and start a conversation, you supposed.

 

“So… Papyrus. I heard you like puns?” you started, watching for Papyrus’ reaction… that he didn’t give. Okay, let’s try again.

 

“No need to  _ skullk,  _ Papyrus, we’ll be friend eventually,” you tried, grinning at the pun as you attempted not to laugh.

 

Nothing.

 

You sighed, fiddling with the hem of your dress as your nerves began to make their reappearance in your stomach.

 

“...Sans is really sweet, you know. I don’t really know how two are related considering what I know about you. He’s been nothing but kind to me and he’s a nurse? What a fitting job for him,” you continued like that for a few minutes, pausing only to take deep breaths before continuing.

 

When you finished, Papyrus finally looked up from his phone and right at you.

 

“Sans is the coolest brother ever.”

 

You inhaled slightly at the intensity of that statement. So Papyrus was the type to adore his family, what a good quality to have.

 

Just when you were about to open your mouth to continue on that thought, Blue entered the living room carrying a skillet in mitted hands.

 

“DINNER’S READY!” He exclaimed proudly, setting the skillet on a cloth trivet.

 

You stared at Papyrus as he got up and moved to the table, then sighed and followed after him, sitting on one side while Papyrus sat on the end and Blue went back to the kitchen to grab more food. Soon the table was full of food, including tortillas to put the meat in the skillet on, mashed potatoes, and dinner roles.

 

“God, this smells amazing,” you said, mouth already watering as Blue finally sat down.

 

Blue beamed brightly at you, grabbing the napkin next to his plate to put into his lap.

 

“THANK YOU! THESE ARE CARNITAS! I USED PORK TO MAKE THEM, BUT THEY CAN ALSO BE CHICKEN OR BEEF!” 

 

You nodded enthusiastically, watching as Sans began to serve the food, though the silence that followed became awkward when you made eye contact with Papyrus. 

 

The silence stretched on for ages, making you shift uncomfortably in your seat. Would it kill Papyrus to say one thing to you?

 

Just as you were about to start talking just to fill the quiet, Blue spoke up.

 

“IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ANY PET, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?”

 

You blinked, the question sounding as if it had come from one of those dinner conversation cards your parents used to use on you when you wouldn’t talk at at the table. Still, you figured you’d answer anyway, so you hummed in thought.

 

“I think… I’d get a German Shepard. I love how pretty they are, and it’d be nice to have a reason to get out and exercise more.”

 

Blue nodded, sitting down now that he was finally finished with serving the food.

 

“YOU DON’T NEED AN EXCUSE TO GO EXERCISING!”

 

You smiled at Blue, albeit sheepishly.

 

“Yeah, I know. But like… I need someone with me ya know? To help encourage me, I guess.”

 

Blue’s eyes turned into stars, which made you grin because wow that was adorable, and leaned forward against the table.

 

“I CAN EXERCISE WITH YOU! I LOVE EXERCISING, AND IT COULD BE A GREAT CHANCE TO BOND MORE!”

 

You gasped in excitement, clapping your hands together in delight. “I would  _ love  _ that!”

 

“PAPY YOU COULD JOIN US TOO! WE COULD MAKE THIS A FRIENDSHIP THING! EVERY WEEK ONCE A WEEK. WHAT DO YOU THINK?” Blue asked, looking to Papyrus with those same stars in his eyes showing his excitement.

 

Papyrus froze, Carnitas taco halfway to his mouth as he looked rapidly between you and his brother, clearly taken off guard.

 

“Uh…”

 

You joined Blue in looking at Papyrus with hope and excitement, leaning forward just like your friend in anticipation for Papyrus’ answer.

 

“Yeah, no. That’s not gonna happen, sorry bro.”

 

“AW BUT PAPY--”

 

“Nope.”

 

“But--” you joined in, but Papyrus cut you off with a glare, making you hunch over in your seat with a frown.

 

After that, you decided it was time to finally start digging in to the food on your plate. It was delicious, and you couldn’t resist grabbing seconds when you quickly finished the first two tacos.

 

You and Blue continued to talk while you ate, both of you constantly trying to get Papyrus to join in, but he always refused your efforts.

 

As soon as you guys were done eating, Blue started gathering dishes with your help.

 

“OH! YOU DON’T HAVE TO HELP HUMAN.”

 

You shrugged, holding onto yours and Papyrus’ plates as well as the bowl of mashed potatoes.

 

“I want to, besides, I don’t see Papyrus getting up to help.”

 

Blue rolled his eyes at that, gently placing his dishes in the sink.

 

“THAT’S BECAUSE PAPY NEVER HELPS. HE’S TOO LAZY.”

 

You glanced back at the table where Papyrus had crossed his arms and laid his head over them to take a quick nap, rolling your eyes before putting the dishes you held into the sink and the bowl on the counter so the potatoes could be saved for later.

 

“OH! I KNOW, WE COULD PLAY A GAME NOW THAT DINNER IS OVER! WHAT DO YOU SAY (Y/N)?”

 

You blinked in surprise, looking back over at Papyrus to see him glaring at you in an obvious way of saying  _ don’t you dare say yes _ .

 

So, naturally, you beamed at Blue and nodded enthusiastically. You were determined to get a conversation out of Papyrus, damn it.

 

“Sure! That sounds fun.”

 

Blue looked at Papyrus, seemingly ignoring the way his brother was glaring at you. 

 

“PAPY, DO YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH US?”

 

“Not really bro--”

 

“NONSENSE! OF COURSE YOU DO.”

 

Papyrus sighed at that, smiling softly at his brother.

 

“You’re right bro, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

 

“I DON’T KNOW EITHER BUT CLEARLY YOUR HEAD WASN’T ON STRAIGHT!”

 

You watched the exchange, tilting your head slightly. Papyrus seemed to be a totally different person towards his brother, though you supposed that made sense considering Papyrus actually liked his brother, whereas he seemed to kind of… hate you.

 

Should you really be doing this? Annoying Papyrus into being your friend wasn’t really what you wanted, you just… honestly you didn’t know why you still insisted on being the skeletons friend when you already have two other monster friends and--

 

Wait what are you thinking? You have to stay determined! Nodding to yourself, you looked at Sans again with a smile.

 

“So! What are we playing, Blue?”

 

“MONOPOLY!”

 

“Monopoly.”

 

You looked between the two brothers, who had just spoken simultaneously, then sighed. You honestly hated Monopoly, but if that’s what they wanted to play…

  
  
  


This was a terrible idea.

 

Ever since the three of you had started, Papyrus had been targeting you. You were low on funds, with virtually no streets to speak of, and you were pretty sure Blue was winning only because Papyrus was letting him.

 

You  _ hated  _ this game, why did you think it would be a good idea to bear with it for an hour or two? Originally, you’d been amused by Papyrus’ attempts to crush you and had tried to do the same but that quickly became you trying to keep your head above the water as Papyrus increased his efforts.

 

It’d only been an hour for fucks sake!

 

Finally, you groaned and dropped your head against the table, making Blue look up from the board with a frown.

 

“ARE YOU OKAY (Y/N)?” he asked, concern clear in his tone.

 

You nodded against the table before looking up to give Blue an apologetic smile.

 

“I think I’m gonna need to call it quits before we finish, it’s getting late and I need to work tomorrow.”

 

“OH. OKAY, IF YOU SAY SO!”

 

You got up from the table and walked towards the door, turning back to find Blue had followed you. You smiled, opening your arms wide for a hug that Blue gladly took you up on.

 

When you left, Blue closed the door behind you and turned to his brother with a frown on his face and his hands on his hips.

 

Papyrus raised an eyeridge at his brother, moving back to the couch so he could get comfortable.

 

“What’s up bro?”

 

“YOU KNOW EXACTLY ‘WHAT’S UP’ PAPYRUS. YOU WERE RUDE TO THE HUMAN HER ENTIRE VISIT.”

 

Papyrus shrugs and grabs a sucker from his hoodie pocket, unwrapping it before popping it into his mouth.

 

Sans shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“I’M SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU PAPY.”


End file.
